The game creates an SCSPack files like it should, I double click on it and the importer pops up warning it's not an official EA file and I click okay and it places the files where it should, but they don't show up in the list of paintable tiles.

You have to make xml files for each of them in one of the folders (decorativeterrain maybe? I forget offhand). If you want titles to show up you also have to make a localization file with the string ids, and if you want them to have portraits in the menu you have to make the portraits for them. Just adding the pngs won't do anything.

You need to edit or create a new "DecorativeTerrainSets.xml" file. I have attached my DecorativeTerrainSets.xml file which I used to add my own ground textures. I have also commented in the file what I added so you know exactly where everything goes.

You can use my file and replace the name of my custom textures with yours.

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Thanks for posting that xml file. I found that it contains way more information that I would need to create simple terrain textures so I've attached the necessary examples to this message of the files that would need to be brought into place to make this mod work (using only one texture, if people wanted they could add more lines of text and more textures to flesh it out, it's here as way of example of what is bare minimum required I believe).

CB_BrownbrickText.xml holds the description to show up in the game for the tile and would be located in the SimCity Societies\Localization\en_us folder.

CB_Brownbricks.xml will end up being installed to the Data\XMLDb\Game\DECORATIVE TERRAIN SETS folder

So as you can see the CB_BrownbricksText.xml only needs to contain a very small amount of text and doesn't need anything that was shipped with the game included. It's all very clean and simple.

Hope this helps anybody else looking to do a simple terrain texture mod. I attempted to upload the finished SCSPack file but the forum rejected it saying it's invalid, in what that means I believe is that TM is not accepting SMSPack files and they need to be in zip which I couldn't be bothered to do for this example, sorry.

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well thanks for the info Will but will there will be a NON Register download site
other than these forums as EA's Support staff have told me that my Serial is
not valid even after scans of it and a valid receipt from Gamstop ha ha ha. oh well

Well I hope these three files help instead of confusing you any further.

I have made comments inside of each file so it shouldn't be too difficult.

You should save these three files and rename them to what you wish to use. Whatever you rename them to will have to be inserted into the correct places inside of the files.

The INSTALL.XML file will be put into your My Documents\Simcity Societies\Export folder. It contains lines of code that tells the game what files we are adding and where to put them in the modding folders based on the path that we list and where the files have actually been placed on your hard drive.

The DECORATIVESET.XML file has coding in it that assigns things like the ID name, and the file names of the actual terrain images that you are adding to the game.

The TERRAINTEXT.XML file contains simply one line of code for each terrain texture that you are adding to the game, it consists of the ID Name of each file (that you assigned in the DECORATIVESET.XML file) and a very very short description to show for the terrain tile in the game.

After you have read through these three files, if you have specific questions feel free to ask and I'll try to answer if I can.

If you find that you are getting more confused by the comments in these three files, then delete them and wait for someone else to answer, because I've done the best I can, and Im all too often very very unclear and confusing.

Good luck.

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Save them somewhere on your hard drive and that way you can reuse them later on for a sort of template.

No you only need the Export folder which should already be there. However you may need to create the folders that reside in the Application Data/Simcity Societies/ etc etc etc. I found the easiest way was to just go download a texture mod from the simcity.com exchange and install it, that way those folders will get made for you and probabilities are quite high that the folders created for someone elses texture mod is the same as you will be using.

And remember to rename them to something appropriate, like mappam_texture_pack.xml and mappam_texture_TEXT.xml and mappam_decorative_terrain.xml so that people know what they are when they are looking at them. And of course you'll be renaming them inside of the files so that they reference what you rename them to.

Egads - I need a Partner - I will do the recolor and someone else will make these .xml files I can recolor all day but when it comes to all this programing I really but on my Dumb Hat! I have REEMS of paper with printouts of all these instructions then get into the correct file/area and go blank ROFL!!

Would anyone happen to have a copy of the attachments that are disabled within this thread? Would love to have them -- posting the text(s) here would be wonderful. Many thanks to anyone who would be willing to do this!

Last edited by primitive on Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:21 am, edited 1 time in total.